What are the Chances?
by Eatslugs
Summary: When Hermione decides to take a night off studying, things don't quite go exactly to plan.
1. Chapter 1

Hey! This is my first story, if I could get some feedback that'd be great! Thanks :) 


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione's thirst for knowledge had not been satiated or dampened by her experience at Hogwarts. The wizarding world's lack of a standardised tertiary education disappointed her, so she had enrolled in a private college which specialised in furthering magical theory studies. The building itself was carefully concealed in the heart of London, from the outside it was an unassuming book keeping firm that naturally attracted little attention. The colourless grey concrete of the building's brutalist architecture, unbeknownst to passing muggles, greatly juxtaposed the interior design. Like Hogwarts, The Greater London School of Magical Theory was made up of multiple interlocking floors connected by shifting magical staircases. The décor was like that of an old grand estate. All the floors were covered in thick red woollen carpets, the walls were painted a warm earthy brown and the doors were solid dark mahogany. Hermione's apartment however, was nothing like that, inside was just as cramped and dilapidated as the block was from the outside. Despite Hermione keeping all of her things organised and clean, it did not much improve the damp stains on the walls, the worn thread bare carpets and the deep set smell of moth balls.

With finals looming around the corner, a less studious person would be feeling stressed, Hermione however was as on top of things as ever and decided to grant herself a night off. Straightening her shirt as she manoeuvred her way around furniture that was too large for her tiny apartment, Hermione walked out the door, closing it behind her. She was headed for a quaint and cheap muggle pub a few blocks down from where she lived. She often preferred going out to muggle establishments because there she was as anonymous as any other girl in there. Her aiding Harry Potter in his plight to stop Voldemort had made her somewhat well known amongst wizards and witches. Hermione pushed open the door to the pub, the smell of old cigarette smoke and spilt beer filled her lungs. She ordered a pint of lager and absent mindedly shuffled herself in to one of the booths, the cold dark green vinyl of the seat stuck to her and pulled at her skin. Looking up she realised she had accidentally entered a booth which already had someone sitting there. The man was turned away from her, but Hermione thought she recognised his thin white blonde hair.

"Oh I'm so sorry, I thought this was empty." Hermione said apolitically whilst standing up to leave.

"Granger?" Queried the man. Hermione stopped dead in her tracks. Hermione knew that voice, but she couldn't quite bring herself to believe it belonged to who she thought. Draco Malfoy's rich pureblooded life was so far removed from this cheap muggle bar. Hermione turned to look at him and sure enough, Draco Malfoy sat there returning her gaze. "You can sit back down if you want." Draco said shrugging.

"Only if you don't mind, I mean all the the other booths are full. I don't mean to impose."

"No imposition here, Granger. I'm surprised to you're here." Responded Draco, emotionless and looking away.

"You're surprised to see me?" Laughed Hermione as she warily sat back down into her seat. "I'm the one who ought to be surprised. What are you doing here?"  
"I'm just passing through. Official ministry business." Draco replied coldly, sipping his beer.

"You know there's a wizard bar just a few streets down. It seems unlike you to come to a muggle pub."

"Well, I guess you don't know what I'm _like_ then, do you?" Draco quipped. Hermione sighed, he obviously did not intend in engaging in any conversation. She quickly drank the rest of her beer and stood up to leave, as this 'night off' was turning out to be more draining than studying.

"It was very kind of you to offer me a seat, but it's obvious you don't want any company right now." Hermione said indignantly.

"Wait." Said Draco "You don't need to leave. I... I'm sorry. I'll. I'll get you another." He sighed standing up and making his way to the bar. Hermione bewildered, slumped back down into her seat.

"_He's buying me a drink?_" Hermione whispered to herself, confused. She quickly composed herself as Draco returned to the booth. He put two pints down on the table between them and slid into his seat. He shifted about awkwardly in his place before looking up at Hermione.

"Look, Gra...Hermione I'm sorry about what happened at school." Hermione looked at Draco, somewhat underwhelmed by his blunt apology.

"Thanks I guess" Said Hermione bemused, in a non committal tone. They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Hermione spoke again. "So why are you really here? The ministry doesn't usually hire straight out of Hogwarts."

"I'm actually just here looking for work, I guess I just happened across this place. I sometimes prefer muggle pubs. Nobody knows who you are here." Draco revealed. His body became a lot less stiff and his eye contact became steadier.

"I know what you mean, Where ever you go people know you and want to talk to you. Sometimes you want to just go out with out people making to relive it all." Hermione said empathetically.

"I wouldn't say people particularly want to speak to me, but it's a similar feeling." Draco said, looking relieved. With this small connection the conversation began to flow more freely. Hermione had never expected her night to turn out like this, nor did she ever expect to be talking like this to Draco Malfoy, a man she had once despised and fought against. The night wore on and the pub was getting very full. Hermione and Draco were having to shout to be heard.

"Hey, It's getting fairly busy in here, why don't you come back to mine for a cup of tea? It's just a few blocks away." Hermione called from across the small table.

"Sounds great." Said Draco, standing up and collecting his things.

Hermione unlocked the door to her apartment and let Draco in. "I'm sorry for _this._" Hermione said gesturing to the whole place.

"It's fine, don't worry." Draco said smiling, closing the door behind him. "Thank you for having me over." Hermione suddenly turned around and looked straight at Draco, she could not believe the man in front of her was the same one that she went to Hogwarts with.

"You know, I find it hard to believe you're the same Draco I knew." Hermione said softly, smiling.

"Ha, I was just thinking the same thing." Draco smirked, drawing Hermione closer to him. She embraced him standing on her toes to match his height, closing her eyes. Their noses brushed and lips met, Draco's hand curled around the back of Hermione's head, her arm wrapping around his body. Suddenly Draco pulled away, coughing into his hands. Hermione, startled, stepped back. She could not afford to get sick this close to finals.

"Here, I'll get you some tea." Said Hermione as she backed into her cramped kitchen. She swivelled around and turned on her electric kettle. In the lounge room Draco continued to cough, the severity increased, his hacking coughs interspersed with horrible retching. Hermione quickly bobbed down and opened up the cupboard under the sink. She frantically grabbed a bucket from the back and dragged it toward her, cleaning detergents, polishes and bleach all spilt out onto the floor. Hermione stood back up and tipped the sponges and rags from inside the bucket onto the ground.

"Hermione?" Draco called, his voice muffled. Clutching her bucket, Hermione sprinted back into the lounge room.

"Good God! What's happened to you?" Hermione gasped upon seeing Draco. He was facing away from her, doubled over, coughing in to one hand and the other was stretched out in front of him clutching the mantle piece in support. His clothes, drenched, weighed heavy on him and with effort he turned to look up Hermione. Sweat ran down the side of his angular face, collecting in a pool on the floor. His eyes bloodshot, which greatly contrasted his greying skin. Draco's hand was pressed tight against his nose and mouth, as if he was desperately trying to hold something back. But despite his best efforts from between his thin white finger thick red blood seeped through. He began to cough again harder than before, blood sprayed out across Hermione's carpet, Draco's hand unable to hold it back. Hermione rushed over to him and placed the bucket underneath him. Draco pulled his hand off the mantle piece and collapsed over the bucket. Bloody vomit erupted out from him as he took his hand away from his mouth and grasped the edge of the bucket. Hermione shuffled towards him and put her arm around his shoulders and held him tightly. Thoughts of her own health quickly vanished from her mind as panic rose within her. Despite all that she had endure during her time at Hogwarts, this situation she was completely unprepared for, whatever disease he had it was alien to her.

"There's something on my back." Draco sobbed as meaty vomit chunks intermingled with blood trickled out of his mouth.

"That's my arm, Draco, sorry." Hermione whispered, trying to maintain some level of calmness while taking her arm off of him.

"No... It's not... Your arm... Oh God, it's down my spine!" Draco frantically unbuttoned his jacket and shook it off, He stood back up and pulled off his T-shirt. Hermione fell backwards as she saw the thick white line like a stretch mark, on his back, which ran from the nape of his neck down into the top of his pants. Draco's spine rippled forcing him to bend over, his screams of pain stifled by large chunks of flesh spewing out of his mouth. Hermione scrambled away from him, hitting her back against the foot of her couch. Draco's spine and ribs undulated like waves across his back. Hermione horrified, climbed up onto the top of the couch, pressing her back up against the wall. The pungent smell of warm metallic blood lay thick in the air, choking her as she gasped for breath. From his hips up Draco began convulsing, blood cascading from his eyes, ears and nose, his spine became more pronounced, each vertebrae individually pushing up against his skin. Suddenly just as the skin on Draco's back seemed to be stretched to it's limit, down the white line, like a zip his skin ripped in half. The a large insect like creature tore up through Draco, erupting from his fleshy remains. The creature stood about two metres tall, it had two powerful spiny legs then six spindly arms protruding out of its segmented body, all protected by a thick black exoskeleton. Hermione could not make out the shape of it's head as it was turned away from her. She watched, paralysed as the last of Draco's flesh slid off the creature, his skin left lifeless and bloodless on the floor. Hermione sobbed into her shirt, the putrid acidic smell of the dripping mucosal substance that covered the creatures body burnt her lungs as she inhaled. Suddenly the creature became aware of Hermione's presence in the room and slowly began to turn towards her. In panic Hermione reached above her and ripped down the shotgun mounted on the wall. She pumped it and looked down the barrel, the noise quickened the creature's turn, Hermione's finger tightened on the trigger. As it's eyes met hers she shot. The spray of bullets shattered through it's hard exoskeleton, ripping through it's soft opaque jelly like innards. As it's short lived life left it, the creature's cold grey eyes widened, staring at Hermione and in that moment she realised it was him. That insect that now lay eviscerated on the floor was Draco. What had she done? What was she going to do? The shotgun fell out of her hands and bounced against the couch cushions, her legs gave way beneath her and she tumbled down from the top of the couch and collapsed on the floor. The creature's acidic mucous slightly burned her skin, the broken shards of exoskeleton dug into her, Draco's blood and vomit seeped into her clothes. Hermione lay there, eyes closed and cried convulsively, her whole body shaking with horror and grief. Suddenly she felt a weight on top her, covering her, it was restrictive but soft. Slowly the acid ceased to burn, the the exoskeleton faded away and her blood drenched clothing became dry. The faint call of birds song rang in Hermione's ear and she snapped awake. It was all a dream.


End file.
